Paul McGrath - Irish Football
Great

Paul McGrath
Ireland V Italy - WC 1990

Paul McGrath - Black Pearl of Inchicore

Paul McGrath is one of
the greatest footballers to ever play for the Republic of Ireland soccer
team. The fact that he managed to perform so well for so long for his
clubs and country is all the more remarkable because he was beset by ongoing
injury problems and off-pitch issues. McGrath suffered many injuries to
his knees over his career and the effects of his alcoholism caused him
to miss matches for football club and country on occasions.

McGrath was a natural and
magnificent athlete with outstanding soccer talent. His preferred position
on the football pitch was at centre-half however the Irish
soccer managerJack
Charlton, often deployed him with great success in midfield. From
an Irish perspective two of his greatest performances for the Republic
of Ireland soccer team were both against Italy and both at World Cup finals.
His performance in Rome in 1990 and particularly in New York in 1994 are
the stuff of Irish football legend.

Paul McGrath - Early Days

Paul McGrath was born in
London in 1959. His mother, Betty, was Irish and the father that he never
met was Nigerian. They were not married and in those unenlightened days
such a union would have been very much frowned upon. Raising a mixed race
baby as an unmarried mother in Ireland in those days just wasn't on so
for most people so McGrath's mother headed for London. Shortly after Paul
was born his mother came home to Dublin and put her baby up for adoption.
McGrath was raised in orphanages and foster homes in Dublin.

As a boy Paul McGrath's
love was soccer. It was his means of self-expression and in ways it was
a form of escape. His natural talent was apparent from an early age. He
played his schoolboy soccer for Pearse Rovers and later he played junior
football for Dalkey
United.

McGrath - the Professional Footballer

St Patrick's Athletic

In 1981 Paul McGrath became
a professional soccer player when he signed for St
Patrick's Athletic in Inchicore, Dublin. It was during his short football
career with St Pat's that his performances on the pitch were so good that
he was dubbed 'The Black Pearl of Inchicore'. McGrath's physique, presence
and pure football talent made him stand out on any football pitch that
he graced and it wasn't very long before the Irish scouts of English football
clubs came calling.

Manchester United

After just one season with
St Pat's Paul McGrath's left Ireland in 1982 to begin his English soccer
career with Manchester United
having been spotted by United's talent scout Billy
Behan. At the time United were managed by Ron Atkinson and the team
played with a smile on their faces and in a somewhat cavalier fashion.
Atkinson was a larger than life character and McGrath took to him immediately.
After some initial difficulty in adjusting to the demands of the United
training routine Paul settled down to the life of a professional footballer
in Manchester. He was helped by the fact that there were other Irish soccer
players at the club such as Frank
Stapleton, Kevin Moran
and Ashley Grimes.

His debut was in the 1982/83
season in a charity match against Aldershot. His league debut was against
Tottenham Hotspur in November 1982. Paul went on to make 163 appearances,
scoring 12 goals and winning an FA cup medal in 1985 with United. If McGrath
felt he had a good relationship with Ron Atkinson, it was clear from early
that the Alex Ferguson - Paul McGrath relationship would be not be a comfortable
one. Ferguson is renowned as a disciplinarian and McGrath's drinking problems
would not allow him to conform to the new stricter regime. Eventually
the time came for Paul to find new soccer pastures.

Aston Villa

Paul McGrath transferred
Aston Villa in 1989. He was an instant success and the Villa fans embraced
him and his sublime footballing skills. Ultimately he was known as 'God'
by the fans such was the esteem in which they held him. In the early 1990's
Aston Villa were a soccer force in the old Division One (now Premier League)
and McGrath was instrumental in the club's push to win the league. Villa
were runners-up in 1990 and again 1993. Paul McGrath's performances on
the soccer pitch were such that he was voted the PFA Players' Player of
the Year in 1993. This was an amazing feat by Paul since "He was,
quite literally, a walking wreck" as noted by author Colm Keene
in his book: Ireland's Soccer Top 20.

McGrath gained a measure
of revenge over Alex Ferguson and Manchester United in 1994 when he helped
Aston Villa to beat them at Wembley in the League Cup final. Paul played
252 times for Villa scoring 9 goals in the process.

Derby County & Sheffield United

In 1996 Paul McGrath finished
his Villa career by joining Derby County for whom he played 24 times.
His final club was Sheffield United but he only managed 11 appearances
as his knees could no longer take the punishment. He retired from soccer
in 1998.

International Career

Typical of Paul McGrath
Ireland V Latvia - 1993

In Dublin Paul McGrath
made his international debut for the Republic of Ireland international
soccer team in 1985 in a friendly against Italy. The Italians would later
be the opponents for two major highs in his international career. He subsequently
featured in two of Ireland's three matches in the Euro '88 football finals
in Germany.

While his preferred position
was centre-half he was competing with the likes of Mark Lawrenson, David
O'Leary, Kevin Moran and Mick McCarthy for a berth in the defence. When
Jack Charlton took over as the Ireland soccer manager he recognised that
with those players he did not need McGrath in defence but he also recognised
that McGrath was too good to leave out of the team. Charlton's solution
was to play Paul in midfield. He was certainly good enough and he repaid
his manager's faith in spades.

Paul McGrath represented
his country 83 times on the football pitch scoring eight goals. It is
difficult to recall a single poor performance by Paul when playing soccer
for Ireland. Even when playing out of his normal position on the pitch
invariably he was one of the star performers match-in match-out. Two stand-out
performances spring to mind when Irish soccer fans are asked about Paul's
greatest matches for Ireland. Both were against Italy. In the quarter
final of the 1990 World Cup in Rome Italy were overwhelming favourites
to win the match. In a very good overall team performance McGrath's performance
stood out as the Irish lost narrowly 1-0.

Great as that performance
was, and it really was great, Paul gave an absolute master class four
years later in the opening group match in the World Cup finals in New
York. Back in his favourite position at centre-half McGrath was simply
magnificent. Ireland lead from early through a Ray Houghton goal. The
Irish defence had to endure some periods of sustained attack from the
talented Italians.

Time and again McGrath
repelled Italian attacks, snuffing out danger early, making last ditch
tackles, and making towering clearing headers. His performance had it
all including one cameo where he made a number tackles in quick succession
finally taking a shot full in the face. Unbelievably he was back on his
feet in a flash ready to stop whatever else the Italian attack could throw
at him.

During Paul McGrath's international
career Jack Charlton acted very much as a father figure to Paul and there
seems to have been a genuine warmth between them. Like Ferguson, Jack
Charlton cuts quite a strict authority figure yet when it came to handling
Paul, particularly when it came to dealing with his drinking problems,
Charlton dealt with him sensitively and compassionately.

Paul McGrath's Knees & Need for Alcohol

There is no doubt that
Paul McGrath had the ability and soccer talent to become one of the true
greats of World soccer. One really has to about wonder what he could have
achieved if he hadn't been plagued by injuries and if he hadn't been afflicted
by alcoholism.

McGrath had never been
injured while playing soccer in Ireland yet in the last game in his first
season in England he was injured in a bad tackle. This resulted in the
need for surgery and it was to be far from the last time he would need
to go under the knife. Thus began the Irish nation's obsession with Paul
McGrath's knees.

Paul had been getting a
bit frustrated at not being able to secure a permanent first team place.
Gordon McQueen and Kevin Moran, both experienced and talented players,
had the two centre-half positions nailed down. The first injury of his
career compounded his frustration and so to escape his negative feelings
he resorted to alcohol.

On his recovery from the
injury McGrath threw himself into his training, pushing himself harder
than ever. Paul now believes that the "hard" training sessions
employed by United contributed significantly to his knee problems. The
injuries continued to interrupt his progress and it seemed that almost
every injury required surgery. Allied to that, McGrath had signed up to
then existent United drinking culture. His particular partner in crime
was Norman Whiteside
who was also injury-prone. Eventually Alex Ferguson concluded that something
had to change and the manager decided that Paul McGrath would be transferred
from Manchester United. Paul's drinking and his successive injuries effectively
ended his career with the biggest soccer club in England.

The rest of his football
career was occasionally blighted by the effects of his alcoholism causing
to miss training and matches. He later admitted were that there times
that he was still under the influence when playing soccer matches.

Over the years Paul had
to undergo surgery on eight occasions on his knees. In the final few years
of his career McGrath employed a personalised training program that was
designed to reduce the impact on his knee joints. Close to the end of
his Aston Villa career McGrath could not train at all. He relied upon
the football matches to keep up his fitness levels. All the while he was
playing with a significant level of pain so much so that he could not
even warm up properly for matches

Retirement from Soccer and Back in
Ireland

As a footballer, Paul McGrath,
is sadly missed by his fans. His autobiography reveals just how heroic
this giant of Irish football is - although it makes for harrowing reading
at times. McGrath had to contend with problems that would have broken
most other men yet this legend had an outstanding football career and
produced unforgettable sporting highlights for an adoring public.

In one of his last matches,
in a man of the match performance, McGrath inspired Derby County to a
shock defeat of Manchester United at Old Trafford. Ferguson said after
the match "You have to wonder what a player McGrath should have
been." He also commented that "Paul had similar problems
to George Best [but] he was without doubt the most natural athlete
in football you could imagine". True praise from a football legend
who knows a thing or two about football talent.

Truly Paul McGrath is an
Irish soccer great now living in County Wexford, Ireland.